Berkeley High School Jazz Orchestra at Jazz on Fourth Street Festival at Fourth Street

Presented by Fourth Street Merchants, KCSM/Jazz 91, the 20th Annual Jazz on Fourth Street Festival will take place Sunday, May 17, 2015 from Noon – 5:00pm in Berkeley, CA on Fourth Street between Hearst and Virginia and is free. For more information, visit www.fourthstreet.com or call the hot line at (510) 526-6294.

The 20th edition of the legendary free outdoor music festival, benefiting the jazz programs at Berkeley High School, will kick off with two Berkeley High School Jazz Combos and then followed by the Dixieland sounds of Mal Sharpe’s Big Money in Jazz Band with special guest Kellye Gray, the blues of Bay Area favorite Terrie Odabi, and the traditional salsa grooves from Edgardo + Candela. The grand finale will be the full 22-piece Berkeley High School Ensemble, directed by Sarah Cline....

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Presented by Fourth Street Merchants, KCSM/Jazz 91, the 20th Annual Jazz on Fourth Street Festival will take place Sunday, May 17, 2015 from Noon – 5:00pm in Berkeley, CA on Fourth Street between Hearst and Virginia and is free. For more information, visit www.fourthstreet.com or call the hot line at (510) 526-6294.

The 20th edition of the legendary free outdoor music festival, benefiting the jazz programs at Berkeley High School, will kick off with two Berkeley High School Jazz Combos and then followed by the Dixieland sounds of Mal Sharpe’s Big Money in Jazz Band with special guest Kellye Gray, the blues of Bay Area favorite Terrie Odabi, and the traditional salsa grooves from Edgardo + Candela. The grand finale will be the full 22-piece Berkeley High School Ensemble, directed by Sarah Cline.

The Berkeley High School Jazz program is a premier high school jazz program, nationally and internationally known as an incubator of talent and a citadel of swing. The flagship performing group, the Berkeley High Jazz Ensemble, has been one of the nation’s leading high school big bands for the past 40 years. BHS Jazz has produced some of the most creative jazz voices of the past several decades. BHS Jazz is comprised of three big band classes, and numerous student-led combos.

During the Festival, a raffle will be held to benefit the Berkeley High School Jazz programs. The street and the plaza will be filled with Fourth Street merchants offering interactive displays, children’s activities and unique food and beverages including beer and sake gardens. All proceeds from beer and sake sales go directly to Berkeley High Jazz programs.

The Berkeley High Jazz Program once home to Ambrose Akinmusire, Joshua Redman, Dave Ellis, Peter Apfelbaum, Michael Wolff, Benny Green and many others, is a national model of instrumental education. The proceeds from this event will help the school continue the jazz programs and provide much needed funds for the ensemble to travel to many upcoming national and international jazz festival competitions. Jazz On Fourth Street has collected over $175,000 for the music program since the Festival’s inception. The proceeds from raffle tickets and the beer and sake sales go directly to Berkeley High Jazz Program to help fund travel to festivals, scholarships and helped send the band on their recent tour to Havana, Cuba.

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